Ladder Shelf Build #2: Positioning the Stretchers

Please note: I have read the LJ formatting guides and I don’t find anything about how to import images from my computer without them rotating. Any help with this is much appreciated.

With the front and rear legs joined at the hip, it’s time to position the stretchers. There will be a stretcher in the front and rear of each shelf. Since they won’t be seen, I am going to pocket screw the stretchers to the inside of the legs. Alternatives to this include screwing from the outside of the leg and then plugging, doweling from the inside, or a true mortise and tenon. I’m just getting into wood working and frankly the mortise and tenon was just going to take longer than I could afford for this project. I don’t want to see plugs, and I feel like the pocket screws will be plenty strong for a nick knack shelf.

In the pic below I have clamped the two sets of legs onto my bench and I am positioning the stretchers where I want them. Let me stop here and say how satisfying it is to have built my own bench, however simple it may be compared to to some of the really nice once. My bench is a tool to hold work so I can work with it. Mission accomplished!

This next pic shows one of the “ladders” dry fitted together. Starting to look like something!